The State of New York is planning to kill off 165,000 Canada geese after they were blamed for the crash of US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River. The iconic birds are also notoriously big poopers.

Nearly 400 geese were apparently gassed with lethal doses of carbon dioxide after being rounded up in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park earlier this month. However, a nine-page report dug up by the New York Times’ City Room blog shows that national, state and city agencies have a much bigger goal. They want to eliminate two-thirds of the Canada geese population in New York, which would reduce their numbers from 250,000 to the state’s population goal of 85,000.

“It is unknown how many have been killed so far,” City Room said.

New York City has an estimated 20,000 to 25,000 of the birds, roughly five times the amount “most people would find socially acceptable,” the report said.

“The population of resident Canada geese needs to be reduced in metropolitan New York City to protect aviation safety, water supplies from fecal contamination, public and private property from damage to turf and ornamental planting, loss of land use due to excessive fecal droppings, and against unintended consequences of hazing programs.”

More than 100 Canada geese were recently served in Oregon food banks after being asphyxiated with carbon dioxide in retaliation for messing up a city park.

While all 155 passengers and crew (including hero pilot Sully Sullenberger) survived the emergency landing of Flight 1549 in January 2009, the US$60-million aircraft was destroyed. In the past decade, there have been 78 reported Canada goose strikes with aircraft in New York, causing more than US$2.2-million in damage, the report said.

It noted that the geese are most likely to be herded into capture pens or covered with a 40 x 60 foot net. They are then placed alive into commercial turkey crates.

”The geese would be brought to a secure location and euthanized with methods approved by the American Veterinary Medical Association. Euthanized geese would be buried.”

Canada Geese breed throughout North America, except in the high Arctic and in the extreme southern parts of the United States and Mexico.

According to Environment Canada, there is no one solution to discouraging Canada geese from settling in an undesirable area, but timing is everything. It recommends indentifying potential nesting and rearing sites, and preparing to discourage the birds from settling as early as February.

In Canada, permits may be issued authorizing the use of a firearm as a noisemaker to disturb the geese. “The applicant must demonstrate that other techniques were tried without success.